







J^JV.YK■ 



■■■■■■■ 


^^^HL.>:.>r: ,, ^^^^^^^H 




HHHHHH 










I^^^^^^^^^^^H 


mKk^i^'mh^^r-: Hl^^ 




^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 


^^^^^^1 






^^^^^^H 




■ILV.-^*^ V-"**- '•''■<<'•'• ^H 






VSrSin 






^Zx^^T^IH 


H£1£k£I 


fiMl^^yllJ 




jiMiga 


1^1 






HH 


^^^^1 






^^^^H 


^^^B 




^^^H 


^^^^H 


^^^Pk^^^h^^H 




^^^^^1 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 


^^H^j,;^MinipiMM 




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 


^^^^^H 






^^^^H 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^i^^^^i 






^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 


Biv^"^^^ry^; •::':; "il'V'.' •■-■^<'--,- ■ 




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 


^^^^^^^^^H^^^^H 


^^^■■^^^^^^^^Ki?;;^^. !, r'l-'iSiSBKSOSiSBKMEK'fitiKS 




^f^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 


^^^^^^^^^^H 






^^^H^^^^^^H 






ll^Oj 


■ 


^H^^^^HJII^^^HIJii 


H^^^I^^^HLk'::'iI.>:A;-Vf ':'.;: 




H^^H^^^HH^HH 




Copght W 



CDPiRrciir DEPOstr 



THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 




Co'^Y^ 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Tmvo Copici Received 

SEP 24 1903 

( Cepyright Ent^ 

CUSS ^ XXa N« 

COPY A. 



Gdptright, 1903, 
By Little, Brown, axd Compaky. 



All rights reserved 



Published October, 1903 



UNIVERSITY PRESS • JOHN WILSON 
AND SON • CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 



w 

" *; To H. R. 

ffL Once more I turn to you and give 

Into your hand my little book, 

^ Since through the years and while I live, 

It is to you I still must look 
For hand of strength, for heart of cheer. 
For all that 's wise and kind and dear. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

The Golden Windows 1 

Two Ways 7 

The Wheat-field 9 

To-MORROW . , 12 

The Coming of the King . 14 

The Tree in the City 18 

The House of Love 22 

The Great Feast 26 

The Desert 30 

The Walled Garden 33 

The Pig Brother . 35 

The Hill 39 

About Angels 41 

The Point of View 46 

The Open Door 49 

The Day 51 

The Baby 53 

The Apron-string 55 

The Shadow 58 

The Prominent Man 60 

Good Advice 63 



viii COxXTENTS 

Paok 
For Remembrance 64 

• The Sailor Man 66 

The Road 69 

The Bund Mother 72 

^«Go" and "Come" 75 

y Child's Play 77 

The Windows 80 

A Misunderstanding 82 

From a Far Country 84 

A Fortune 90 

The Stars 92 

^The Cooky 94< 

Ti^E Strong Child .96 

Anybody 98 

The Giftie 99 

The Staff 101 

The Door 103 

Theology IO6 

A Matter of Importance 108 

The Scar .112 

The Stranger 113 

The Wedding Guests 115 

Home • 120 



(( 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Angel said to this child, ^ Where are 

your sheaves?'" Frontispiece 

" Two Angels sat together, bending over a 

book" Page 46 



i( 



cc 



They found the sailor man sitting in his 

doorway knotting ropes " .... " QQ 

Laid his arm round the stranger's neck, 

and led him away into his garden " . "87 

These were evil days for the wedding 

guest" "117 



THE 

GOLDEN WINDOWS 

A BOOK OF FABLES 

THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

LL day long the little boy 
worked hard, in field and 
barn and shed, for his people 
were poor farmers, and 
could not pay a workman ; 
but at sunset there came 
an hour that was all his 
own, for his father had given it to him. 
Then the boy would go up to the top of 
a hill and look across at another hill that 
rose some miles away. On this far hill 
stood a house with windows of clear gold 
and diamonds. They shone and blazed 
so that it made the boy wink to look at 
them : but after a while the people in the 
house put up shutters, as it seemed, and 
then it looked like any common farm- 
1 1 




2 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

house. The boy supposed they did this 
because it was supper-time ; and then he 
would go into the house and have his 
supper of bread and milk, and so to bed. 

One day the boy's father called him and 
said : " You have been a good boy, and 
have earned a holiday. Take this day for 
your own ; but remember that God gave 
it, and try to learn some good thing." 

The boy thanked his father and kissed 
his mother ; then he put a piece of bread 
in his pocket, and started off* to find the 
house with the golden windows. 

It was pleasant walking. His bare feet 
made marks in the white dust, and when 
he looked back, the footprints seemed to 
be following him, and making company 
for him. His shadow, too, kept beside 
him, and would dance or run with him as 
he pleased ; so it was very cheerful. 

By and by he felt hungry ; and he sat 
down by a brown brook that ran through 
the alder hedge by the roadside, and ate 
his bread, and drank the clear water. 
Then he scattered the crumbs for the 
birds, as his mother had taught him to 
do, and went on his way. 



THE GOLDEN WINDOWS S 

After a long time he came to a high 
green hill ; and when he had climbed the 
hill, there was the house on the top ; but 
it seemed that the shutters were up, for 
he could not see the golden windows. He 
came up to the house, and then he could 
well have wept, for the windows were of 
clear glass, like any others, and there was 
no gold anywhere about them. 

A woman came to the door, and looked 
kindly at the boy, and asked him what he 
wanted. 

" I saw the golden windows from our 
hilltop," he said, " and I came to see them, 
but now they are only glass." 

The woman shook her head and laughed. 

" We are poor farming people," she said, 
"and are not likely to have gold about 
our windows ; but glass is better to see 
through." 

She bade the boy sit down on the 
broad stone step at the door, and brought 
him a cup of milk and a cake, and bade 
him rest; then she called her daugh- 
ter, a child of his own age, and nodded 
kindly at the two, and went back to her 
work. 



4 THE GOLDExN WINDOWS 

The little girl was barefooted like him- 
self, and wore a brown cotton gown, but 
her hair was golden like the windows he 
had seen, and her eyes were blue like the 
sky at noon. She led the boy about the 
farm, and showed him her black calf with 
the white star on its forehead, and he 
told her about his own at home, which 
was red like a chestnut, with four white 
feet. Then when they had eaten an apple 
together, and so had become friends, the 
boy asked her about the golden windows. 
The little girl nodded, and said she knew 
all about them, only he had mistaken the 
house. 

" You have come quite the wrong way ! " 
she said. *' Come with me, and I will 
show you the house with the golden win- 
dows, and then you will see for yourself." 

They went to a knoll that rose behind 
the farmhouse, and as they went the little 
girl told him that the golden windows 
could only be seen at a certain hour, about 
sunset. 

" Yes, I know that ! " said the boy. 

When they readied the top of the knoll, 
the girl turned and pointed ; and there on 



THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 5 

a hill far away stood a house with windows 
of clear gold and diamond, just as he had 
seen them. And when they looked again, 
the boy saw that it was his own home. 

Then he told the little girl that he must 
go ; and he gave her his best pebble, the 
white one with the red band, that he had 
carried for a year in his pocket ; and she 
gave him three horse-chestnuts, one red 
like satin, one spotted, and one white like 
milk. He kissed her, and promised to 
come again, but he did not tell her what 
he had learned ; and so he went back down 
the hill, and the little girl stood in the 
sunset light and watched him. 

The way home was long, and it was 
dark before the boy reached his father's 
house ; but the lamplight and firelight 
shone through the windows, making them 
almost as bright as he had seen them from 
the hilltop ; and when he opened the door, 
his mother came to kiss him, and his little 
sister ran to throw her arms about his 
neck, and his father looked up and smiled 
from his seat by the fire. 

" Have you had a good day ? " asked his 
mother. 



6 THE GOLDExN WINDOWS 

Yes, the boy had had a very good day. 

" And have you learned anything ? " asked 
his father. 

" Yes ! " said the boy. " I have learned 
that our house has windows of gold and 
diamond." 



TWO WAYS 




WO little weeds grew 
on a bank by the road- 
side. All summer they 
had drunk dew and 
sunshine, and had been 
happy ; but now au- 
tumn was come, with 
gray skies, and winds that nipped and 
pinched them. 

"We shall die soon!" said one little 
weed. " I should like to do something 
pleasant before I die, just to show what 
a happy time I have had. I think I will 
turn red, and then people will see how I 
feel." 

" You will be a great fool to waste your 
strength in any such nonsense ! " said the 
other little weed. " I shall live as long as 
I can, and hug the brown bank here." 

So the first little weed turned bright 
scarlet, and was so pretty that every one 



8 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

who passed that way turned to look at it. 
By and by there came along a most beau- 
tiful maiden with her lover ; and when 
the lover saw the scarlet leaves, he plucked 
them, and set them in his maiden's hair, 
and they lent her a new grace. This made 
the little weed so happy that he died for 
pure joy. 

The second little weed lived on, and 
turned slowly brown, like the bank. 

" He was a fool ! " he said, speaking of 
his companion. " He put all his strength 
into turning red, and so he died." 

*' I was proud of him ! " said the brown 
bank. " He did what he could, and people 
observed him." 

" Yes, but I am alive, and stay with 
you ! " said the weed. 

" Much I care ! " said the brown bank. 



THE WHEAT-FIELD 




OME children were set 
to reap in a wheat-field. 
The wheat was yellow 
as gold, the sun shone 
gloriously, and the but- 
terflies flew hither and 
thither. Some of the 
children worked better, and some worse ; 
but there was one who ran here and there 
after the butterflies that fluttered about 
his head, and sang as he ran. 

By and by evening came, and the Angel 
of the wheat-field called to the children 
and said, " Come now to the gate, and 
bring your sheaves with you." 

So the children came, bringing their 
sheaves. Some had great piles, laid close 
and even, so that they might carry more ; 
some had theirs laid large and loose, so 
that they looked more than they were ; 
but one, the child that had run to and fro 
after the butterflies, came empty-handed. 



10 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

The Angel said to this child, " Where 
are your sheaves ? " 

The child hung his head. " I do not 
know ! " he said. " I had some, but I 
have lost them, I know not how." 

" None enter here without sheaves," said 
the Angel. 

" I know that," said the child. " But 
I thought I would like to see the place 
where the others were going ; besides, they 
would not let me leave them." 

Then all the other children cried out 
together. One said, " Dear Angel, let him 
in ! In the morning I was sick, and this 
child came and played with me, and 
showed me the butterflies, and I forgot 
my pain. Also, he gave me one of his 
sheaves, and I would give it to him again, 
but I cannot tell it now from my own." 

Another said, " Dear Angel, let him in I 
At noon the sun beat on my head so 
fiercely that I fainted and fell down like 
one dead ; and this child came running by, 
and when he saw me he brought water 
to revive me, and then he showed me the 
butterflies, and was so glad and merry 
that my strength returned ; to me also he 



THE WHEAT-FIELD 11 

gave one of his sheaves, and I would give 
it to him again, but it is so hke my own 
that I cannot tell it." 

And a third said, " Just now, as evening 
was coming, I was weary and sad, and 
had so few sheaves that it seemed hardly 
worth my while to go on working ; but 
this child comforted me, and showed me 
the butterflies, and gave me of his sheaves. 
Look ! it may be that this was his ; and 
yet I cannot tell, it is so like my own." 

And all the children said, " We also had 
sheaves of him, dear Angel ; let him in, 
we pray you ! " 

The Angel smiled, and reached his hand 

inside the gate and brought out a pile 

• of sheaves ; it was not large, but the glory 

of the sun was on it, so that it seemed to 

lighten the whole field. 

" Here are his sheaves ! " said the Angel. 
" They are known and counted, every one." 
And he said to the child, " Lead the way 
in!" 



TO-MORROW 




N the Land of To-morrow, 
near the entrance-gate, two 
newly arrived spirits met, 
and looked each other in 
the face. One of them 
was a strong and beautiful 
spirit, with shining gar- 
ments, and a face full of clear light ; but 
the other was little and pinched and gray, 
and she trembled and cowered as she went. 
" What ails you," asked the first spirit, 
" that you cower thus ? " 

" I am afraid ! " answered the second. 
"It is all so strange here : I hav^e no 
home, no friends, and I am alone and 
frightened." 

" That is strange I " said the strong spirit. 
" I never felt so at home before. Every- 
thing is friendly to my eyes ; the very 
trees are as if I had known them always." 

" I^et me hold your hand I " said the 
frightened one. *' You seem so strong, 

12 



TO-MORROW 13 

and tread so freely, I shall perhaps not be 
so afraid if I am with you. I was a great 
lady on the earth. I lived in a fine house, 
and had servants to run and ride for me, 
and jewels and rich dresses, and every- 
thing that heart could desire ; yet I had 
to leave them all in haste, and come alone 
to this strange place. It is very terrible ! 
was it so with you ? " 

" Nay," said the other ; "I came will- 
ingly." 

The frightened spirit clung to the other, 
and peered in her face. 

*' Tell me ! " she cried. " Did we ever 
meet on the earth ? your face is not only 
friendly, it is familiar. It is as if I had 
seen you often, yet none of the noble 
ladies I knew had such strength and grace. 
Who were you, beautiful angel ? " 

" I was your washerwoman ! " said the 
other. 




THE COMING OF THE KING 

OME children were at play 
in their play-ground one 
day, when a herald rode 
through the town, blow- 
ing a trumpet, and crying 
aloud, " The King ! the 
King passes by this road 
to-day. Make ready for the King ! " 

The children stopped their play, and 
looked at one another. 

" Did you hear that ? " they said. " The 
King is coming. He may look over the 
wall and see our playground ; who knows ? 
We must put it in order." 

The playground was sadly dirty, and 
in the corners were scraps of paper and 
broken toys, for these were careless chil- 
dren. But now, one brought a hoe, and 
another a rake, and a third ran to fetch 
tlie wheelbarrow from behind the garden 
gate. They labored hard, till at length 
all was clean and tidy. 

14 



THE COMING OF THE KING 15 

" Now it is clean ! " they said ; " but we 
must make it pretty, too, for kings are 
used to fine things ; maybe he would not 
notice mere cleanness, for he may have it 
all the time." 

Then one brought sweet rushes and 
strewed them on the ground ; and others 
made garlands of oak leaves and pine 
tassels and hung them on the walls ; and 
the littlest one pulled marigold buds and 
threw them all about the playground, " to 
look like gold," he said. 

When all was done the playground was 
so beautiful that the children stood and 
looked at it, and clapped their hands with 
pleasure. 

''Let us keep it always like this!" said 
the littlest one ; and the others cried, 
" Yes ! yes ! that is what we will do." 

They waited all day for the coming 
of the King, but he never came ; only, 
towards sunset, a man with travel-worn 
clothes, and a kind, tired face passed along 
the road, and stopped to look over the 
wall. 

" What a pleasant place ! " said the man. 
" May I come in and rest, dear children ? ' 



16 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

The children brought him in ghidly, and 
set him on the seat that they had made 
out of an old cask. They had covered it 
with the old red cloak to make it look like 
a throne, and it made a very good one. 

"It is our playground ! ' they said. 
" We made it pretty for the King, but he 
did not come, and now we mean to keep 
it so for ourselves." 

" That is good ! " said the man. 

" Because we think pretty and clean is 
nicer than ugly and dirty ! " said another. 

" That is better ! " said the man. 

" And for tired people to rest in ! " said 
the littlest one. 

** That is best of all ! " said the man. 

He sat and rested, and looked at the 
children with such kind eyes that they 
came about him, and told him all they 
knew ; about the five puppies in the barn, 
and the thrush's nest with four blue 
eggs, and the shore where the gold shells 
grew ; and the man nodded and under- 
stood all about it. 

By and by he asked for a cup of water, 
and they brought it to him in the best 
cup, with the gold sprigs on it : then he 



THE COMING OF THE KING 17 

thanked the children, and rose and went 
on his way ; but before he went he laid 
his hand on their heads for a moment, 
and the touch went warm to their hearts. 

The children stood by the wall and 
watched the man as he went slowly along. 
The sun was setting, and the light fell in 
long slanting rays across the road. 

" He looks so tired ! " said one of the 
children. 

" But he was so kind ! " said another. 

" See ! " said the littlest one. " How 
the sun shines on his hair ! it looks like 
a crown of gold." 




THE TREE IN THE CITY 

N a narrow space between two 
buildings, in a crowded city, grew 
a tree. There was no other green 
thing near it. On one side its 
leaves touched the blank wall of a 
warehouse, on the other they swept 
1^ the window of a poor tenement ; 
the space under it was paved up to its 
very roots ; but still it lived, and put forth 
its fresh leaves every spring. 

" Why do you take so much trouble ? " 
asked the old rat who lived under the 
roots. " I would not, if I were in your 
place." 

"It is my business ! " said the tree. " It 
is the thing I have to do. All my family 
do it." 

" But there is no one to see you," said 
the rat, " except me, and I do not care." 
" That is not my affair I " said the tree. 
But the sick girl in the tenement said, 
** Mother I mother dear ! the tree outside 

18 



THE TREE IN THE CITY 19 

the window is putting out little new leaves, 
soft and green. It is spring, even here 
in the city. I shall grow better now, I 
am sure." 

" Thank God ! " said the mother. 

Summer came. The leaves of the tree 
were large and long, and the branches 
were heavy with them ; they quivered and 
rustled with every breath of wind. 

" It does really seem a pity for you to 
exert yourself so 1 " said the old rat who 
lived under the roots. " If you caught 
beetles, now, or did anything useful, I 
should feel better about it. Wliy do you 
take all this trouble ? " 

" It is the thing I have to do I " said the 
tree. " All my family do it." 

"But if anybody cared," said the rat, 
"it would be different." 

" That is not my affair 1 " said the tree. 

But the sick girl in the tenement said, 
" Mother, the heat is stifling. I could not 
bear it if it were not for the shade of this 
dear tree. The wind rustles the leaves, 
and I seem to hear coolness in the sound ; 
it tells me that somewhere in the world 
there are whole forests of trees, rustling 



20 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

and waving, and green fields with flowers 
in them, and streams of cool water flowing 
and falling. The tree makes summer for 
me." 

" Thank God ! " said the mother. 

By and by it was autumn. The air 
grew thin and chill ; the leaves of the tree 
turned yellow, and one by one dropped 
off and fell to the ground. The paved 
court was covered with them, and they 
shone like gold. 

" Now you see ! " said the old rat who 
lived under the roots. " Now it is over, 
and what have you for your pains ? " 

" I have done the thing I had to do ; " 
said the tree. " That is enough for me." 

" Poor-spirited vegetable ! " said the rat. 
" If you had borne acorns for people to 
gnaw, it would at least have been some- 
thing, but you have nothing to show for 
your trouble save dead leaves and empty 
branches." 

" That is not my affair !" said the tree. 

But the sick girl in the tenement said, 
" Mother 1 mother dear, I am tired. Sum- 
mer is over. Look I the leaves have fallen 
from my dear tree, and the bare branches 



THE TREE IN THE CITY 21 

tap against the window like summoning 
hands. The tree is going to sleep for the 
winter, and I think that I shall sleep too. 
Mother dear, when I am asleep, gather 
the leaves from the ground and strew them 
over me, for they have been my joy." 

And she turned her face to the wall and 
slept. 

" Thank God ! " said the mother. 



THE HOUSE OF LOVE 




MAN and a woman were 
walking together along 
the way, when they 
met a child, who was 
so beautiful that they 
stopped to speak to him. 
" Who are you, lovely 
child ? " they asked. " What is your 
name, and whence do you come ? " 

*' My name is Love," said the child. 
" I live hard by here, in my house. Come 
and see it, and if it pleases you, you shall 
live in it with me." 

So presently they came to the house ; 
and the child took them by the hands and 
drew them in. 

" Look ! " he said. " See what a pleasant 
house this is of mine ! Feel the carpet, 
how soft it is under our feet I the cushions 
are soft too. Here are my flowers in the 
window ; did you ever smell sweeter ones ? 

22 



THE HOUSE OF LOVE 23 

the whole house is hke a garden with them. 
And feel the sun, how it conies pouring 
in, warming one through and through ! do 
you like my house ? will you stay with 
me?" 

And the man and woman joined hands, 
and said, " We will stay." 

For a time all went well. The child 
Love sang the sweetest songs, and flitted 
from room to room ; and wherever he 
came the sun shone brighter. 

But one day the man said : "I begin 
to see things in this house that I did not 
notice at first. This child has deceived 
us ; now that I look closely, it seems a 
poor place. This carpet that he boasted 
of, for example, is nothing but a rag- 
carpet ; the curtains are poor and patched ; 
and it is the same with everything." 

" You are right ! " said the woman. 
" How strange that we did not notice this 
at first ! " 

They called the child Love, and said to 
him : " You have deceived us. You are 
a false child, and this house of yours is 
nothing but a sham. Shame on you, for 
cheating folk ! " 



24 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" Nay ! " said Love. " I meant no harm." 

" These carpets and cushions," said the 
man and woman, " are nought but rags 
and patches, ugly and faded." 

" Nay ! " said Love. ** I only feel them 
soft." 

" These flowers you make such brag of 
are nothing but common wildings, such 
as grow in every hedgerow." 

" Nay ! " said Love. " I only smell 
them sweet." 

" This very sunshine you boast of comes 
filtered through poor flimsy curtains and 
discolored glass." 

" Nay 1 " said Love. " I only feel it 
warm." 

" But," said they both, " look ! look with 
your eyes, and see for yourself the truth of 
all we say." 

As they spoke, they looked into the 
child's eyes ; and lo ! he was blind. 

Then they cried with one voice, " Out 
upon you, deceiver ! we must stay in this 
wretched place because we have joined 
hands and given our word, but we will no 
longer liave you about us. Go ! " 

" But it was my house ! " said Love. 



THE HOUSE OF LOVE 25 

" It is yours no longer, " they said. 
»^^ Go ! " 

Then the child Love went out, weeping 
bitterly ; and the man and woman turned 
and faced each other in the naked house. 



THE GREAT FEAST 




NCE the Play Angel 
ca,me into a nursery 
where four little chil- 
dren sat on the floor 
with sad and troubled 
faces. 

" What is tlie matter, 
dears ? " asked the Play Angel. 

" We wanted to have a grand feast ! " 
said the child whose nursery it was. 

" Yes, that would be delightful ! " said 
the Play Angel. 

" But there is only one cooky ! " said the 
child whose nursery it was. 

'* And it is a very small cooky ! " said 
the child who was a cousin, and therefore 
felt a right to speak. 

"Not big enough for myself!" said the 
child whose nursery it was. 

The other two children said nothing, 
because they were not relations ; but they 

26 



THE GREAT FEAST 27 

looked at the cooky with large eyes, and 
their mouths went up in the middle and 
down at the sides. 

" Well," said the Play Angel, " suppose 
we have the feast just the same ! I think 
we can manage it." 

She broke the cooky into four pieces, 
and gave one piece to the littlest child. 

" See ! " she said. ** This is a roast 
chicken, a Brown Bantam. It is just as 
brown and crispy as it can be, and there 
is cranberry sauce on one side, and on the 
other a little mountain of mashed potato ; 
it must be a volcano, it smokes so. Do 
you see ? " 

" Yes ! " said the littlest one ; and his 
mouth went down in the middle and up 
at the corners. 

The Play Angel gave a piece to the 
next child. 

" Here," she said, " is a little pie ! Out- 
side, as you see, it is brown and crusty, 
with a wreath of pastry leaves round the 
edge and * For You ' in the middle ; but 
inside it is all chicken and ham and jelly 
and hard-boiled eggs. Did ever you see 
such a pie ? " 



^8 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" Never I did ! " said the child. 

" Now here," said the Angel to the 
third child, "is a round cake. Look at 
it ! the frosting is half an inch thick, with 
candied rose-leaves and angelica laid on 
in true-lovers' knots ; and inside there are 
chopped-up almonds, and raisins, and great 
slices of citron. It is the prettiest cake 
I ever saw, and the best." 

" So it is I did ! " said the third child. 

Then the Angel gave the last piece to 
the child whose nursery it was. 

" ]My dear ! " she said. " Just look ! 
Here is an ice-cream rabbit. He is 
snow-white outside, with eyes of red 
barley sugar ; see his ears, and his little 
snubby tail ! but inside, I think you will 
find him pink. Now, when I clap my 
hands and count one, two, three, you 
must eat the feast all up. One — two — 
three ! " 

So the children ate the feast all up. 

" There I " said the Angel. " Did ever 
you see such a grand feast ? " 

** No, never we did ! " said all the four 
children together. 

" And there are some crumbs left over," 



THE GREAT FEAST 29 

said the Angel. " Come, and we will give 
them to the brother birds ! " 

** But you did n't have any ! " said the 
child whose nursery it was. 

" Oh, yes ! " said the Angel. " I had 
it all ! " 



THE DESERT 




NCE a child was sent on 
a long journey, and mid- 
way in the journey he 
came to a desert. It was 
a dreadful place. Tlie 
sand was like grains of 
fire about his feet ; tliere 
was no shade, and the sun beat down upon 
his head ; but the worst of all was that 
there was no water. 

" There must be water," said the child, 
" or I and all that come after me must 
perish." 

So he dug in the burning sand, down 
and down, with hands that bled and 
smarted, for he had no tools ; and at 
length he found water. l^ubbhng up 
through the sand it came, and the child's 
heart rejoiced ; but when he tasted the 
water, it was bitter as gall. 

30 



THE DESERT 31 

" Bitter or sweet, it still is water ! " said 
the child ; and he drank, and went on his 
way. 

Again and again, as he toiled across the 
desert, he was overcome by thirst, and 
stopped and dug in the sand with his bare 
hands, and found water, but every time 
it was bitter. 

At last he came to the end of the 
desert, and lay down to rest, stretching 
himself at length in the cool grass, and 
looking back along the way he had come. 
And as he looked, he saw another child 
coming across the desert, not slowly and 
painfully, as he had come, but tripping 
joyously along, and singing as he came. 
The first child wondered much at this, 
and when the other was near enough he 
called to him, and said, " Have you too 
come across the desert ? " 

" Yes ! " said the other. 

" But how is it that you came so 
quickly ? " asked the first. 

" Oh," said the other, " it was not nearly 
so bad as people would make it out. 
Every little way there were springs of 
water bubbling up ; moreover, between 



32 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

the springs ran a narrow path of green 
grass, new-sprung, and soft and cool under 
the feet." 

" But was not the water bitter ? " asked 
the first child. 

" Never in my life," answered the other, 
" have I tasted sweeter water." 




THE WALLED GARDEN 

NCE, on a winter day, a 
man walked to and fro 
under his garden wall. 
" What a glorious day 
this is ! " he said to him- 
self. " The snow sparkles 
in the sun like pearl and 
diamond, the air is frosty yet genial, the 
whole world is full of life and vigor. It 
is good to be alive on such a day." 

Presently he saw his brother passing by 
on the other side of the road. He looked 
blue with cold ; his teeth chattered, and 
his head was drawn down between his 
shoulders as if in the face of something 
bitter. 

When the man saw him, he cried out, 
" How now, brother ? why do you look 
so ill at ease on a day like this, a day that 
fills one with the very wine of life ? " 

" I look ill because I am so I " replied 
the other. " The cold plucks at my very 

3 33 



34 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

heart, and the north wind pinches the 
marrow in my bones." 

" Wind I " said the first man. " I feel 
no wind." 

The other threw him a glance. '* No I " 
he said. "If I were in a walled garden 
that took the sun, maybe I should not feel 
it either." 




THE PIG BROTHER 

HERE was once a child 
who was untidy. He 
left his books on the 
floor, and his muddy 
shoes on the table ; 
he put his fingers in 
the jam-pots, and spilled 
ink on his best pina- 
fore ; there was really no end to his un- 
tidiness. 

One day the Tidy Angel came into his 
nursery. 

" This will never do 1 " said the Angel. 
"This is really shocking. You must go 
out and stay with your brother while I 
set things to rights here." 

" I have no brother ! " said the child. 
" Yes, you have ! " said the Angel. *' You 
may not know him, but he will know you. 
Go out in the garden and watch for him, 
and he will soon come." 

35 



36 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" I don't know what you mean ! " said 
the child ; but he went out into the garden 
and waited. 

Presently a squirrel came along, whisk- 
ing his tail. 

" Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 

The squirrel looked him over carefully. 

"Well, I should hope not!" he said. 
" My fur is neat and smooth, my nest is 
handsomely made, and in perfect order, 
and my young ones are properly brought 
up. Why do you insult me by asking 
such a question ? " 

He whisked off, and the child waited. 

Presently a wren came hopping by. 

" Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 

" No indeed ! " said the wren. " What 
impertinence ! You will find no tidier 
person than 1 in the whole garden. Not 
a feather is out of place, and my eggs 
are the wonder of all for smoothness and 
beauty. Brother, indeed ! " He hopped 
off, ruffling his feathers, and the child 
waited. 

By and by a large Tommy Cat came 
along. 

" Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 



THE PIG BROTHER 37 

" Go and look at yourself in the glass," 
said the Tommy Cat haughtily, " and you 
will have your answer. I have been wash- 
ing myself in the sun all the morning, 
while it is clear that no water has come 
near you for a long time. There are no 
such creatures as you in my family, I am 
humbly thankful to say." 

He walked on, waving his tail, and the 
child waited. 

Presently a pig came trotting along. 

The child did not wish to ask the pig 
if he were his brother, but the pig did not 
wait to be asked. 

" Hallo, brother ! " he grunted. 

" I am not your brother ! " said the child. 

" Oh, yes, you are ! " said the pig. " I 
confess I am not proud of you, but there 
is no mistaking the members of our family. 
Come along, and have a good roll in the 
barnyard ! There is some lovely black 
mud there." 

" I don't like to roll in mud ! " said the 
child. 

" Tell that to the hens ! " said the pig 
brother. " Look at your hands, and your 
shoes, and your pinafore ! Come along. 



38 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

I say ! You may have some of the pig- 
wash for supper, if there is more than I 
want." 

** I don't want pig- wash ! " said the child ; 
and he began to cry. 

Just then the Tidy Angel came out. 

** I have set everything to rights," she 
said, " and so it must stay. Now, will 
you go with the Pig Brother, or will you 
come back with me, and be a tidy child ? *' 

** With you, with you ! " cried the child ; 
and he clung to the Angel's dress. 

The Pig Brother grunted. 

** Small loss ! " he said. " There will be 
all the more wash for me ! " and he trotted 
on. 



THE HILL 



fi 


1 


s 




Mm 




B^n 




ffl 




■ 


^ 



CANNOT walk up this 
hill," said the little boy. 
" I cannot possibly do it. 
What will become of me ? 
I must stay here all my 
life, at the foot of the hill : 
it is too terrible ! " 
" That is a pity ! " said his sister. " But 
look, little boy ! I have found such a 
pleasant thing to play. Take a step, and 
see how clear a footprint you can make 
in the dust. Look at mine ! every single 
line in my foot is printed clear. Now, do 
you try, and see if you can do as well I " 
The little boy took a step. 
" Mine is just as clear ! " he said. 
" Do you think so ? " said his sister. 
" See mine, again here ! I tread harder 
than you, because I am heavier, and so 
the print is deeper. Try again." 

39 



40 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" JVoiv mine is just as deep ! " cried the 
little boy. ** See I here, and here, and here, 
they are just as deep as they can be." 

" Yes, that is very well," said his sister ; 
** but now it is my turn ; let me try again, 
and we shall see." 

They kept on, step by step, matching 
their footprints, and laughing to see the 
gray dust pufF up between their bare toes. 

By and by the little boy looked up. 

" Why I " he said, " we are at the top 
of the hill ! " 

" Dear me I " said his sister. " So we 
are I 




ABOUT ANGELS 

OTHER," said 

the child ; " are 
there really an- 
gels ? " 

"The Good 

Book says so," 

said the mother. 

" Yes," said the child ; " I have seen 

the picture. But did you ever see one, 

mother ? " 

" I think 1 have," said the mother ; " but 
she was not dressed like the picture." 

** I am going to find one ! " said the 
child. " I am going to run along the road, 
miles, and miles, and miles, until I find an 
angel." 

" That will be a good plan I " said the 
mother. " And I will go with you, for 
you are too little to run far alone." 

" I am not little any more ! " said the 
child. " I have trousers ; I am big." 

41 



42 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" So you are I " said the mother. " I 
forgot. But it is a fine day, and I should 
like the walk." 

" But you walk so slowly, with your 
lame foot." 

" I can walk faster than you think I " 
said the mother. 

So they started, the child leaping and 
running, and the mother stepping out so 
bravely with her lame foot that the child 
soon forgot about it. 

The child danced on ahead, and pres- 
ently he saw a chariot coming towards 
him, drawn by prancing white horses. 
In the chariot sat a splendid lady in 
velvet and furs, with white plumes wav- 
ing above her dark hair. As she moved 
in her seat, she flashed with jewels and 
gold, but her eyes were brighter than her 
diamonds. 

" Are you an angel ? " asked the child, 
running up beside the chariot. 

The lady made no reply, but stared 
coldly at the child : then she spoke a word 
to her coachman, and he flicked his whip, 
and the chariot rolled away swiftly in a 
cloud of dust, and disappeared. 



ABOUT ANGELS 43 

The dust filled the child's eyes and 
mouth, and made him choke and sneeze. 
He gasped for breath, and rubbed his 
eyes ; but presently his mother came up, 
and wiped away the dust with her blue 
gingham apron. 

" That was not an angel ! " said the child. 

" No, indeed ! " said the mother. " Noth- 
ing like one ! " 

The child danced on again, leaping and 
running from side to side of the road, 
and the mother followed as best she 
might. 

By and by the child met a most beauti- 
ful maiden, clad in a white dress. Her 
eyes were like blue stars, and the blushes 
came and went in her face like roses look- 
ing through snow. 

** I am sure you must be an angel ! " cried 
the child. 

The maiden blushed more sweetly than 
before. " You dear little child ! " she cried. 
" Some one else said that, only last even- 
ing. Do I really look like an angel ? " 

" You are an angel ! " said the child. 

The maiden took him up in her arms 
and kissed him, and held him tenderly. 



44 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" You are the dearest little thing I ever 
saw ! " she said. " Tell me what makes 
you think so 1 " But suddenly her face 
changed. 

** Oh ! " she cried. " There he is, com- 
ing to meet me ! And you have soiled 
my white dress with your dusty shoes, 
and pulled my hair all awry. Run away, 
child, and go home to your mother ! " 

She set the child down, not unkindly, 
but so hastily that he stumbled and fell ; 
but she did not see that, for she was hasten- 
ing forward to meet her lover, who was 
coming along the road. (Now if the 
maiden had only known, he thought her 
twice as lovely with the child in her arms ; 
but she did not know.) 

The child lay in the dusty road and 
sobbed, till his mother came along and 
picked him up, and wiped away the tears 
with her blue gingham apron. 

" I don't believe that was an angel, after 
all," he said. 

" No ! " said the mother. " But she may 
be one some day. She is young yet." 

"I am tired!" said the child. "Will 
you carry me liome, mother ? " 



ABOUT ANGELS 45 

" Why, yes ! " said the mother. " That 
is what I came for." 

The child put his arms round his mother's 
neck, and she held him tight and trudged 
along the road, singing the song he liked 
best. 

Suddenly he looked up in her face. 

" Mother," he said ; " I don't suppose 
you could be an angel, could you ? " 

" Oh, what a foolish child ! " said the 
mother. **^Who ever heard of an angel 
in a blue gingham apron ? " and she went 
on singing, and stepped out so bravely on 
her lame foot that no one would ever have 
known she was lame. 



THE POINT OF VIEW 




WO angels sat together, 
bending over a book 
that was written full 
of names. 

" I see ! " said one. 
"You have your orders, 
and of course it is 
right ; but it does seem such a pity. I 
hoped that this poor old woman might 
be released ; she suffers so much, and there 
is no cure for her poor body ; and she is 
tired, and longs to go. And the girl is 
so young and pretty and gay, and looking 
forward so joyfully ; it makes me sad, 
even though I know sadness is wrong." 

" My dear," said the other, " I felt just 
as you did at first, till I came to look into 
it. But I found that the old woman could 
not possibly be spared at present. Why, 
all the soul-light of the neighborliood, or 
nearly all, comes from her. Not only lier 
own family, but the doctor, and the wo- 

4.G 



THE POINT OF VIEW 47 

man who nurses her, and all the neighbors, 
are finding their way by the light she gives, 
and better still, are getting light of their 
own. Her old husband used to be a poor 
creature, with his soul-clothes all black 
and dirty and ragged, just because she 
did everything for him ; and now he must 
do for her, and really, you have no idea 
how much better he is getting to look. 
I think he may have a very decent 
little soul if she can only stay a few years 
longer." 

" But the girl ? " asked the first angel. 

" Oh, the girl ! " said the second. " She 
simply must not stay. She started wrong, 
poor child. Her father is a millionnaire, 
you know, not one of those who prosper, 
but really quite destitute ; none of her 
people can do anything for her, for they 
are starving themselves. I examined her 
soul-robe yesterday ; it is already badly 
spotted, and some of the spots will be very 
hard to get out. Now, if she is taken 
away at once, she can make a new start, 
and have a better chance, poor lamb ! and 
meanwhile the pain of losing her will be 
not only medicine, but food and drink, to 



48 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

her suffering family. I expect it to do 
wonders for them, I truly do." 

" I see ! " said the first angel. " How 
little we know ! " 

" Yes," said the second ; " but at least 
we do know something. We know that 
we only know a little ; whereas formerly, 
we knew nothing at all, and thought we 
knew everything ; just like these other 
people, poor dears ! " 

" Poor dears I " echoed the other angel, 
thoughtfully. 




THE OPEN DOOR 

MAN who had grown old in prison 
sat and bewailed his imprison- 
ment. 

"Alas!" he said, "what a 
dreadful place is this in which 
I must stay ! All around 
me is sighing and sobbing, 
pale sorrow and black wickedness. 
The loathly walls hem me in straitly ; the 
window-bars are strong and heavy ; there 
is no escape. Hateful is this prison, hate- 
ful the days I pass in it, hateful the faces 
of men and women, prisoners like myself. 
Oh, that the door were open, and I a free 
man 1 

By and by came One in white, who set 
open the door, and beckoned to the man, 
and said " Come forth ! " 

But the man crouched down where he 
sat, and cried out : 

" No ! no ! I am not ready to go yet. 
After all, the prison is tight and dry, and 

4 49 



50 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

not so very cold, save in winter. Outside 
it is strange and empty, and a wind blows, I 
know not whither. Moreover, my fellow- 
prisoners are friendly, even if they are not 
so very virtuous. Let me stay here, where 
at least I am dry and warm, and safe from 
the things that are not known." 

And he turned to his fellow-prisoners, 
and laid hold on their clothes, and cried, 
** Save me 1 save me from him in white, 
and from the open door ! " 




THE DAY 

OME with me," said the 

Day, " and let us do things 

together ! " 

" What kind of things ? " 

asked the man. 

" Beautiful things ! " 
said the Day. ** Your 
friend is sick, and a visit from you would 
give him infinite pleasure. Also, it is long 
since you saw your sister, who is poor and 
sorrowful ; and on the way, you might get 
some presents for her children, since they 
have no father to buy them gifts. Then, 
suppose we take a walk in those woods, 
outside the city, where you and your 
brother used to play ! How long is it 
since you saw them ? or saw your brother ? 
He is back again, I hear, and is minded 
to lead a new life. We might go to him, 
and take him by the hand, and go a few 
steps with him. Then we might — " 

31 



52 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" What nonsense is all this ? " cried the 
man. " These are things that I should 
like well enough to do some time, but not 
with you. I expect to make ten thousand 
dollars with your aid ; sit down with me 
at the desk, instead of talking idly." 

They sat down together, and the hours 
passed. 

By and by it was time for the Day to 

go. 

*' Good-bye ! " she said. 

" Oh, good-bye ! " said the man. " Why 
do you look at me so sadly and strangely ? 
I mean to do all those things that you 
spoke of; I certainly mean to do them, 
with one of your sisters." 

" I have no more sisters ! " said the Day. 

And passing through the door, she met 
the entering Night. 




THE BABY 

MAN sat by the door 
of his house, smoking 
his pipe ; and his neigh- 
bor (who was an enemy, 
though neither of them 
knew it), sat beside 
him and tempted him. 
" You are poor and 
out of work," said the neighbor, " and 
here is a way of bettering yourself. It 
will be an easy job, and will bring you 
in money ; and it is no more dishonest 
than many things that are done every 
day by respectable people. You will be a 
fool to throw away such a chance as this ; 
come with me, and we will settle the 
matter." 

And the man listened. 
Just then his young wife came to the 
door of the cottage ; she was warm and 
rosy, for she had been washing, and she 
had the baby in her arms. 



53 



54 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" Will you hold Baby for a few minutes, 
John ? " she asked. "He is fretful, and I 
must hang out the clothes." 

The man took the baby and held it on 
his knees ; and as he held it, the child 
looked up in his face and spoke. 

" Flesh of your flesh ! " said the baby ; 
" soul of your soul ! what you sow I shall 
reap, and where you lead I shall follow. 
Lead the way, father, for my feet come 
after yours." 

Then the man said to the neighbor, 
" Go, and come here no more ! " 

He rocked the baby on his knees, and 
whistled a tune ; presently his wife came 
out and took the child. 

" Baby, Baby," she said ; " how could 
you cry when father was holding you ? 
such a father as you have, too ! mind you 
grow up as good a man as he is ! " 

And she went into the house, singing 
to the child as she went. 



THE APRON-STRING 




NCE upon a time a boy 
played about the house, 
running by his moth- 
er's side ; and as he 
was very httle, his 
mother tied him to the 
string of her apron. 
"Now," she said, "when you stumble, 
you can pull yourself up by the apron- 
string, and so you will not fall." 

The boy did that, and all went well, 
and the mother sang at her work. 

By and by the boy grew so tall that his 
head came above the window-sill ; and 
looking through the window, he saw far 
away green trees waving, and a flowing 
river that flashed in the sun, and rising 
above all, blue peaks of mountains. 

" Oh, mother," he said ; " untie the 
apron-string and let me go ! " 

But the mother said, "Not yet, my 
child ! only yesterday you stumbled, and 

55 



66 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

would have fallen but for the apron-string. 
Wait yet a little, till you are stronger." 

So the boy waited, and all went as be- 
fore ; and the mother sang at her work. 

But one day the boy found the door of 
the house standing open, for it was spring 
weather; and he stood on the threshold 
and looked across the valley, and saw the 
gi^een trees waving, and the swift-flowing 
river with the sun flashing on it, and the 
blue mountains rising beyond ; and this 
time he heard the voice of the river call- 
ing, and it said " Come ! " 

Then the boy started forward, and as 
he started, the string of the apron broke. 

" Oh ! how weak my mother's apron- 
string is ! " cried the boy ; and he ran out 
into the world, with the broken string 
hanging beside him. 

The mother gathered up the other end 
of the string and put it in her bosom, and 
went about her work again ; but she sang 
no more. 

The boy ran on and on, rejoicing in his 
freedom, and in the fresh air and the 
morning sun. lie crossed the valley, and 
began to climb the footliills among which 



THE APRON-STRING 57 

the river flowed swiftly, among rocks and 
cliffs. Now it was easy climbing, and 
again it was steep and craggy, but always 
he looked upward at the blue peaks be- 
yond, and always the voice of the river 
was in his ears, saying " Come ! " 

By and by he came to the brink of a 
precipice, over which the river dashed in 
a cataract, foaming and flashing, and send- 
ing up clouds of silver spray. The spray 
filled his eyes, so that he did not see his 
footing clearly ; he grew dizzy, stumbled, 
and fell. But as he fell, something about 
him caught on a point of rock at the 
precipice-edge, and held him, so that he 
hung dangling over the abyss ; and when 
he put up his hand to see what held him, 
he found that it was the broken string of 
the apron, which still hung by his side. 

" Oh ! how strong my mother's apron- 
string is ! " said the boy : and he drew 
himself up by it, and stood firm on his 
feet, and went on climbing toward the 
blue peaks of the mountains. 



THE SHADOW 




N Angel heard a child 
crying one day, and 
came to see what 
ailed it. He found 
the little one sitting 
on the ground, with 
the sun at its back 
(for the day was young), looking at its 
own shadow, which lay on the ground 
before it, and weeping bitterly. 

" What ails you, little one ? " asked the 
Angel. 

*' The world is so dark I " said the child. 
" See, it is all dusky gray, and there is no 
beauty in it. Why must I stay in this 
sad, gi'ay world ? " 

" Do you not hear the birds singing, and 
the other children calling at their play ? " 
asked the Angel. 

" Yes," said the child ; "I hear tliem, 
but I do not know where they are. I 
cannot see them, 1 see only the shadow. 

58 



THE SHADOW 59 

Moreover, if they saw it, they would not 
sing and call, but would weep as I do." 

The Angel lifted the child, and set it on 
its feet, with its face to the early sun. 

" Look ! " said the Angel. 

The child brushed away the tears from 
its eyes and looked. Before them lay the 
fields all green and gold, shining with 
dewdrops, and the other children were 
running to and fro, laughing and shout- 
ing, and crowning one another with 
blossoms. 

" Why, there are the children ! " said the 
little one. 

*' Yes," said the Angel ; " there they 
are. 

" And the sun is shining ! " cried the 
child. 

" Yes," said the Angel ; " it was shining 
all the time." 

" And the shadow is gone ! " 

" Oh, no ! " said the Angel ; " the shadow 
is behind you, where it belongs. Run, 
now, and gather flowers for the littlest 
one, who sits in the grass there ! " 




THE PROMINENT MAN 

NCE a prominent man 
was hurrying to his 
business ; and as he 
hurried along the 
street, he sHpped on 
a piece of ice, and fell 
and broke his leg. He 
was carried home on a stretcher, and lay 
on his bed in pain of body and distress 
of mind. 

" What will become of everything ? " he 
cried. " By now I should have been at 
the committee-meeting, where they can 
do nothing without me. This afternoon 
there is a directors' meeting, where 1 was 
to be chairman, and this evening I am 
engaged to lecture on a subject of vital 
importance. This means disaster to the 
State, and it may be to the whole country. 
It is terrible ! " 

Just then came in the Angel-who-at- 
tends-to-things. 

60 



THE PROMINENT MAN 61 

" How are you feeling ? " asked the 
Angel. 

" Oh, I am in a dreadful condition ! " 
said the man. " I slipped on a piece of 
ice this morning, and broke my leg." 

" Yes," said the Angel ; " I saw you 
fall." 

" But," said the man, " my pain, which 
by the way is very severe " (for he did 
not think the Angel looked sympathetic 
enough), " is the smallest part of it. I 
should by now be at a committee-meet- 
ing, where they can do nothing without 
me. This afternoon there is a directors' 
meeting, where I was to be chairman ; and 
this evening I was engaged to lecture on 
a subject of vital interest. This means 
disaster to the State, and it may be to the 
whole country." And he groaned aloud. 

" Oh, well," said the Angel, " I would 
not worry about all that, if I were you." 

" Not worry I " said the prominent man. 

" No," said the Angel. " The truth is, 
I put that piece of ice there myself I 
wanted to get rid of you." 

" Get rid of — " said the prominent 
man ; and the rest was gasps. 



62 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" Yes," said the Angel. " You see, T 
did n't want you at the committee-meet- 
ing. There is a new man ready to come 
forward who knows much more than you, 
and if you had been there he would have 
been too modest to speak. Then, the 
directors are going to take action this 
afternoon on that important case, and if 
you were there they would vote the wTong 
way. As to the lecture, it would do more 
harm than good just now ; but when the 
crisis is passed, you may deliver it with- 
out doing any serious damage. So you 
see ! " 

" Good heavens ! " cried the prominent 
man. " Am I awake, or is this a dream ? " 

" More or less," said the Angel. " It is 
what you call Life." 

** But — but — but — " cried the man, 
" this is terrible ! You don't know any- 
thing about business." 

" My dear soul," said the Angel, " what 
do you take me for ? " and he went away, 
and told the nurse to give her patient a 
composing draught. 



GOOD ADVICE 




» «-«-<=«-<=-*-«=<^<^< 



YOUNG man came 
an old one, and 
asked his advice on a 
certain matter. 

"You are my 
friend," he said, ** and 
my father's friend. 
I think more of your judgment than of 
almost any one else's, and I shall be largely 
guided by it. This is a matter which 
affects my whole life. Shall I do this 
thing, or shall I not ? Give me your 
honest advice." 

The old man gave it ; and the young 
man thanked him and went away. As 
he went he shook his head and sighed. 

" What a pity ! " he said. " His judg- 
ment, which used to be so clear and vigor- 
ous, is now timorous and one-sided. He 
is not the man he used to be ; his mind 



is failing. What a pity ! " 

And he went and did the thing. 

63 




FOR REMEMBRANCE 

MAN sat by the coffin of 
the one who had been near- 
est to him, in black and 
bitter care. And as he sat, 
he saw passing beyond the 
coffin a troop of bright and 
lovely shapes, with clear 
eyes and faces full of rosy light. 

" Who are you, fair creatures ? " asked 
the man. And they answered : 

" We are the words you might have 
spoken to her." 

" Oh, stay with me I " cried the man. 
" Your sweet looks are a knife in my 
heart, yet still I would keep you, for she 
is cold and deaf, and 1 am alone." 

But they answered : " Nay ; we cannot 
stay, for we have no being, but are only 
a light that never shone." 

And they passed on and were gone. 
And still the man sat in black and bitter 



care. 



64 



FOR REMEMBRANCE 65 

And as he sat he saw rising up between 
him and the coffin a band of pale and ter- 
rible forms, with bloodless lips and hollow 
eyes of fire. 

The man shuddered. 

*' What are you, dreadful shapes ? " he 
asked ; and they answered : 

" We are the words she heard." 

Then the man cried aloud in anguish: 
" Depart from me, and leave me with 
my dead ! Better solitude than such 
company." 

But they, sitting down in silence round 
him, fixed their eyes upon him ; and gaz- 
ing into the hollow eyes of fire, the man 
saw it was his own soul that looked at 
him. 




THE SAILOR MAN 

NCE upon a time two chil- 
dren came to the house 
of a sailor man, who 
lived beside the salt 
sea; and they found the 
sailor man sitting in his 
doorway knotting ropes. 
" How do you do ? " asked the sailor 
man. 

" We are very well, thank you," said the 
children, who had learned manners, " and 
we hope you are the same. We heard 
that you had a boat, and we thought that 
perhaps you would take us out in her, and 
teach us how to sail, for that is what we 
wish most to know." 

" All in good time," said the sailor man. 
" 1 am busy now, but by and by, when my 
work is done, I may perhaps take one of 
you if you are ready to learn. JNleantime 
here are some ropes that need knotting ; 
you might be doing that, since it has to 



THE SAILOR MAN 67 

be done." And he showed them how the 
knots should be tied, and went away and 
left them. 

When he was gone the first child ran 
to the window and looked out. 

" There is the sea," he said. " The 
waves come up on the beach, almost 
to the door of the house. They run 
up all white, like prancing horses, and 
then they go dragging back. Come and 
look ! " 

" I cannot," said the second child. " I 
am tying a knot." 

" Oh ! ' cried the first child, " I see the 
boat. She is dancing like a lady at a 
ball ; I never saw such a beauty. Come 
and look ! " 

" I cannot," said the second child. " 1 
am tying a knot." 

" I shall have a delightful sail in that 
boat," said the first child. " I expect that 
the sailor man will take me, because I am 
the eldest and I know more about it. 
There was no need of my watching when 
he showed you the knots, because I knew 
how already." 

Just then the sailor man came in. 



68 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

** Well," he said, " my work is over. 
What have you been doing in the 
meantime ? " 

" 1 have been looking at the boat," said 
the first child. ** What a beauty she is ! 
I shall have the best time in her that ever 
I had in my life." 

** I have been tying knots," said the 
second child. 

"Come, then," said the sailor man, and 
he held out his hand to the second child. 
" I will take you out in the boat, and teach 
you to sail her." 

** But I am the eldest," cried the fii'st 
child, " and I know a great deal more 
than she does." 

" That may be," said the sailor man ; 
" but a person must learn to tie a knot 
before he can learn to sail a boat." 

" Rut I have learned to tie a knot," cried 
the child. " I know all about it ! " 

" How can I tell that ? " asked the sailor 
man. 




THE ROAD 

NCE upon a time a boy 
was going on a journey 
to the Great City ; and 
his family gathered at 
the door to bid him 
good-bye. 
" Be sure you take the 
right road," said his mother. 

"No fear," said his sister. "He is sure 
to do that." 

" There is but one good road," said the 
old grandfather, who sat in the corner; 
" that is the straight road that runs up 
the hill." 

The boy laughed, and kissed the grand- 
father on the forehead. 

" You are a dear old grandfather," he 
said, "but you forget more than you re- 
member. The road that I shall take is 
the one that goes through the flowering 
fields and beside the cool river." 

69 



70 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

He bade them all farewell, and went 
forth with a light heart, for it was morn- 
ing, and the sun was shining clear. He 
took his way through the flowering fields, 
and it was beautiful there ; the air was full 
of bird-songs, and the grass glittered with 
blossoms like a king's treasure-chamber ; 
red and blue and purple they were, and 
the boy gathered one, and threw it away 
to gather another, and sang as he went. 

After a wliile he felt the ground wet be- 
neath him, and soft ; the grass grew long, 
climbing about his knees and tangling his 
feet. At every step he sank deeper in mud 
and slime, and black bog- water bubbled up 
around him. He perceived that he was 
in a morass, bottomless and treacherous ; 
moreover, when he looked about him, the 
morass stretched far ahead and on every 
side, and there was no patli through it. 

" It is strange," said the boy, ** that I 
did not see this morass before. I must 
go back, or I shall lose my way, and per- 
chance my life." 

With care and })ain he dragged his feet 
out of the slougli, and made his way back 
to firm land. When he turned his face in 



THE ROAD 71 

the opposite direction, he saw the great hill 
rising before him, and over the hill a road 
ran straight among rocks and brambles. 

" That looks like a hard road," said the 
boy, " but it must be a good one, for it is 
straight and dry. I will take that next 
time." 

At nightfall the boy reached his home, 
weary and bedraggled. 

" That was a wretched road I took this 
morning," he said. ** To-morrow I shall 
start again, and take the straight road that 
runs over the hill, for that is the only good 
one." 

" Is it, truly ? " said the old grandfather, 
who sat in the corner. " That is good to 
know." 

The boy laughed, and kissed him on the 
forehead. 

" You are a dear old grandfather," he 
said, " but you forget more than you 
remember." 




THE BLIND MOTHER 

BLIND woman had a 
son, who was the joy 
of her Hfe. Though she 
had no sight of her eyes, 
yet she was skilful of her 
hands ; and it was her 
delight to make pretty 
clothes for her boy, soft and fine and full 
of delicate stitches. 

By and by the boy came to her and said : 
" Mother, give me some other clothes to 
wear. These are too small for me; they 
pinch and bind me. Moreover, they are 
baby clothes, and my playfellows mock and 
laugh at me because of them." 

But the mother said : " Nay, my dar- 
ling ; these are by far the best clothes for 
you. See how soft and warm they are ! 
they are pretty too, I know, although I 
cannot see them. Be content, for you are 
my own darling little son, and so you must 

remain." 

n 



THE BLIND MOTHER 73 

When he found he could not persuade 
her, the boy held his peace ; and he went 
out and looked about him, and found the 
hide of a wolf and the pelt of a fox, and 
huddled them round him over his baby 
frock, and so went among his mates. Only, 
when he came back to the room where his 
mother sat, he threw aside the skins, and 
came to her in his frock ; and she kissed 
him, and felt the frills and the silken 
stitches, and said rejoicing : " You are my 
own darling little son, and the light of 
my life." 

By and by again there was a war in that 
country, and all the young men went out 
to meet the enemy. Some were clad in 
armor of proof, others in leathern jacks and 
doublets ; and with them went the son of 
the blind woman. 

Then when the woman knew that her 
son was gone, she wept and lamented, and 
ran out into the street. There she met 
one who was returning from the field of 
battle, and she asked him how went the 
fight. 

" Bravely," he replied. " Our men did 
well, all save one, who had no arms, and 



74 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

whom I saw beaten down and at sore 
odds with the enemy." 

** Oh ! stranger," cried the blind woman, 
"was that one a boy, who had wandered 
by mistake into that dreadful field, — a 
sweet child, with the prettiest clothes, all 
wrought with needlework ? " 

" Nay," said the stranger. " It was a 
man, half-naked, huddled in the skins of 
beasts, with strange rags showing under 
the skins." 

" Oh ! " said the woman. " I wonder 
who that poor soul might be ; and I won- 
der when my little darling son will come 
home to me again." 

And even while she spoke her son lay 
dead, and huddled round him was the 
hide of a wolf and the pelt of a fox, with 
the baby clothes fluttering from under 
them. 




"GO" AND "COME " 

ITTLE boy," said the nurse 
one day, " you would be far 
better at work. Your gar- 
den needs weeding sadly ; 
go now and weed it, like 

^*^* But the little boy did not feel like 

weeding that day. 

" I can't do it," he said. 

" Oh ! yes, you can," said the nurse. 

" Well, I don't want to," said the little 
boy. 

" But you must ! " said the nurse. 
" Don't be naughty, but go at once and 
do your work as I bid you ! " 

She went away about her own work, for 
she was very industrious ; but the little boy 
sat still, and thought himself ill-used. 

By and by his mother came into the 
room and saw him. 

75 



7() THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

"What is the matter, httle boy?" she 
asked ; for he looked hke a three-days' 
rain. 

" Nurse told me to weed my garden/' 
said the little boy. 

" Oh," said his mother, *' what fun that 
will be ! I love to weed, and it, is such a 
fine day ! May n't I come and help ? " 

" Why, yes," said the little boy. " You 
may." And they weeded the garden beau- 
tifully, and had a glorious time. 




CHILD'S PLAY 

NCE a child was sitting 
on a great log that 
lay by the roadside, 
playing ; and an- 
other child came 
along, and stopped to 
speak to him. 
" What are you doing ? " asked the 
second child. 

** I am sailing to the Southern Seas," 
replied the first, "to get a cargo of mon- 
keys, and elephant tusks, and crystal balls 
as large as oranges. Come up here, and 
you may sail with me if you like." 

So the second child climbed upon the 
log. 

" Look ! " said the first child. " See 
how the foam bubbles up before the ship, 
and trails and floats away behind ! Look ! 
the water is so clear that we can see the 
fishes swdmming about, blue and red and 

77 



78 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

green. There goes a parrot-fish ; my 
father told me about them. I should not 
wonder if we saw a whale in about a 
minute." 

" What are you talking about ? " asked 
the second child, peevishly. " There is no 
water here, only grass ; and anyhow this 
is nothing but a log. You cannot get to 
islands in this way." 

" But we have got to them," cried the^ 
first child. " We are at them now. I see 
the palm-trees waving, and the white sand 
glittering. Look ! there are the natives 
gathering to welcome us on the beach. 
They have feather cloaks, and necklaces, 
and anklets of copper as red as gold. 
Oh ! and there is an elephant coming 
straight toward us." 

*' I should think you would be asliamcd," 
said the second child. " That is Widow 
Slocum." 

" It 's all the same," said tlie first child. 

Presently the second child got down 
from the log. 

" I am going to play stick-knife," he 
said. " I don't see any sense in this. I 
think you are pretty dull to play things 



CHILD'S PLAY 79 

that aren't really there." And he walked 
slowly away. 

The first child looked after him a 
moment. 

" I think you are pretty dull," he said 
to himself, "to see nothing but what is 
under your nose." 

But he w^as too well-mannered to say 
this aloud ; and having taken in his cargo, 
he sailed for another port. 




THE WINDOWS 

MAN who lived alone (for 

he did not get on well with 

his family) was sitting in 

his room one day, thinking 

gloomy thoughts. 

" I cannot see so well as 
I used," he said to him- 
self. " I can hardly see to do my work. 
It is evident that my eyes are growing 
dim. Probably I shall be blind before 
long, and unable to do any work ; and 
then I must starve to death, or go to the 
almshouse. Perhaps it will be better for 
me to go there now, while I can yet see 
a little.'' 

Just then his neighbor, who was a stir- 
ring woman, came in to pass the time of 
day and ask for his health. 

" Why do you sit here," she asked, 
" looking like beanstalks after frost ? " 

So the man told her his thoughts : how 
his eyes were failing, and he could hardly 

80 



THE WINDOWS 81 

see to do his work, and he must starve 
or go to the almshouse ; and while he 
was talking she bustled about the room, 
drawing water, and rummaging among the 
clothes in the drawer of the dresser. 

When he had finished talking, " Man 
alive," she said, " your windows are dirty ; 
that is all the matter." 

So she washed the windows. 

" There ! " she said, and went about her 
business. 

" Dear me ! " said the man, " how^ this 
glare hurts my eyes ! They must be 
weaker than I thought." 




A MISUNDERSTANDING 

NCE a child who thought 
well of herself was 
walking along the 
street, and saw an- 
other child, who 
was poorly clad. 
*' How wretched it 
must be," she said to 
herself, "to be poor and shabby like that 
child ! How thin she is ! and how her 
patched cloak flutters in the wind ; so dif- 
ferent from my velvet dress and coat ! " 
Just then an Angel came along. 
" What are you looking at ? " asked the 
Angel. 

" I was looking at that girl 1 " said the 
child. 

** So was I," said the Angel. " How 
beautifully she is dressed ! " 

" What do you mean ? " said the child. 
" I mean this one coming towards us. 
She is in rags, or at least if her clothes 

82 



A MISUNDERSTANDING 83 

are not ragged, they are wretchedly thin 
and shabby." 

" Oh, no," said the Angel. " How can 
you say so ? She is in sparkling white, as 
clear as frost. I never saw anything so 
pretty. But you, you poor little thing, 
you are indeed miserably clad. Does not 
the wind blow through and through these 
flimsy tatters? But at least you could 
keep them clean, my dear, and mended. 
You should see to that." 

" I dpn't know what you can mean ! " 
said the child. "That girl is a ragged 
beggar, and my father is the richest man 
in town. I have a velvet dress and coat, 
trimmed with expensive fur. What are 
you talking about ? " 

"About the clothes of your soul, of 
course ! " said the Angel, who was young. 

" I don't know anything about souls," 
said the child. 

" I should n't think you did I " said the 
Angel. 




FROM A FAR COUNTRY 



HERE lived a Spirit 
once upon a time. 1 
cannot tell the name 
of the place where he 
lived, but it was a 
good place, and there 
were many other 
spirits in it, beautiful and bright, and they 
all wrought together at happy tasks, fol- 
lowing the bidding of a heavenly Voice. 

But the Spirit of whom I speak was not 
happy. He knew not what ailed him, but 
it was a cruel ail, and left him no rest. 
He saw some spirits who were set at higher 
tasks than his, and he said : " They are 
wiser than I ; they can tell me what my 
ail is, and how to cure it." 

So he went to those spirits, and looking 
in their faces, he saw them full of peace 
and light. And he asked them : " Whence 
have ye this peace and this light, while 1 

84 



FROM A FAR COUNTRY 85 

am empty save of darkness, and cannot 
rest ? " 

They looked kindly on him and said : 
" We have learned the Earth-lesson ; now 
your time is come to learn it, and therefore 
you cannot rest. Ask of the Voice, and 
do what it bids you ! " 

Then the Spirit asked, and the Voice 
said : " They speak the truth ; your time 
is come. Shall I send you, or will you 
choose for yourself ? " 

And he said, " I will choose." 

Then the Earth Book was opened before 
him, and he saw many pictures therein, 
as it were spirits like himself, clothed in 
mortal flesh. He saw a beggar in flutter- 
ing rags, and a soldier in a red coat ; a 
poet with threadbare cloak, his eyes fixed 
on the stars, and a prince clad all in gold 
and silver. And he said, "I will be a 
prince." 

Then sleep fell upon him like a mantle ; 
and the next hour, in a kingly house on 
the earth, a prince was born. 

Every one said that so beautiful a prince 
had never been seen. Courtiers and ladies 
bowed around his cradle, and whenever he 



86 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

opened his baby eyes, he saw smiles and 
soft faces, and rich colors of gold and gems. 

" But why does he cry ? " asked the 
Queen his mother ; and that no one, not 
even the wisest, could tell her. 

The prince grew up. All the days of 
his youth were filled with gay and joyous 
things, and every hour brought its pleas- 
ure ; for his parents said : "His life shall 
be perfect. He shall lack nothing that 
earth can give." 

Yet no one thought the prince a happy 
youth. True, no one heard an ungentle 
word from him, and his lips wore a smile, 
because he was kind at heart ; but his eyes 
were grave, and seemed to be always ask- 
ing a question that was never answered. 
Sometimes those who were about him 
would see him take up a corner of his rich 
cloak and look at it wonderingly, as if it 
were strange to him ; and when travellers 
came from foreign countries, the prince 
would send for them, and look earnestly 
on them, and ask them searchingly of the 
lands whence they came. 

One day came one in a threadbare cloak, 
with a lute on his arm, and bright eyes that 



FROM A FAR COUNTRY 87 

were at once sad and joyful. The prince 
looked on him and trembled, yet could 
not cease looking. 

" Who are you, stranger ? " he cried. 

The man laughed. 

" A stranger indeed," he said ; " yet no 
more strange than you. Brother ; " and he 
touched his lute, and sang a few words in 
an unknown tongue. 

Then the prince came down from his 
throne, and laid his arm round the 
stranger's neck, and led him away into 
his garden. Long they walked and talked 
together there, this one questioning and 
the other making answer ; and the prince's 
laughter came ringing through the trees. 

" But why does he laugh ? " asked the 
Queen his mother; and that no one, not 
even the wisest, could tell her. 

When the stranger was gone, the prince 
laughed no more, but he smiled often, 
with kind lips. He sought no more for 
pleasures, but set himself to labor for 
his people, toiling early and late to raise 
them from poverty and ignorance, and 
to make them happy. After a time he 
died, and his people said : " He was a 



88 THE GOLDEN WLNDOWS 

good prince, but a stranger to us ; the 
others loved festivals and good cheer, 
and that we could understand, for it is 
the same with us." 

But the free Spirit went back to the 
good place whence he came, and where 
the other spirits went to and fro at their 
happy tasks. They crowded about him 
with joyful faces, welcoming him home. 

" Have you learned your lesson ? " they 
cried. 

But he shook his head and answered 
sadly : " It was not my lesson that I tried 
to learn, but another's. Pray for me, that 
I may be suffered to try once more." 

Then all the spirits prayed, and he with 
them ; and the Voice said, '* Be it so ; he 
shall try once more." 

Then again the Earth Book was spread 
open before him, with the pictures of 
prince and peasant, gay soldier and learned 
sage ; but he laid his hands over his eyes. 
"Choose thou!" he said. 

And sleep fell upon him like a mantle ; 
and in that hour, in a green place under 
a blossoming tree, in a humble cottage 
on the earth, a poet was born. 



FROM A FAR COUNTRY 89 

" He is a healthy child," said the village 
gossips. *' May he have strength to earn 
his bread ! " 

" But why does he laugh ? " asked the 
poor mother ; and that no one, not even 
the wisest, could tell her. 



A FORTUNE 




NE day a man was walking 
along the street, and he 
was sad at heart. Busi- 
ness was dull ; he had 
set his desire upon a 
horse that cost a thousand 
dollars, and he had only eight 
hundred to buy it with. There were other 
things, to be sure, that might be bought 
with eight hundred dollars, but he did 
not want those ; so he was sorrowful, and 
thought the world a bad place. 

As he walked, he saw a child running 
toward him ; it was a strange child, but 
when he looked at it, its face lightened 
like sunshine, and broke into smiles. The 
child held out its closed hand. 

" Guess what I have ! " it cried gleefully. 
" Something fine, I am sure ! " said the 
man. 

The child nodded and drew nearer ; then 
opened its hand. 

90 



A FORTUNE 91 

" Look I " it said ; and the street rang 
with its happy laughter. The man looked, 
and in the child's hand lay a penny. 

" Hurrah ! " said the child. 

" Hurrah ! " said the man. 

Then they parted, and the child went 
and bought a stick of candy, and saw vAl 
the world red and white in stripes. 

The man went and put his eight hun- 
dred dollars in the savings-bank, all but 
fifty cents, and with the fifty cents he 
bought a hobby-horse for his own little 
boy, and the little boy saw all the world 
brown, with white spots. 

" Is this the horse you wanted so to 
buy, father ? " asked the little boy. 

"It is the horse I have bought I " said 
the man. 

" Hurrah I " said the little boy. 

" Hurrah ! " said the man. And he saw 
that the world was a good place after all. 



THE STARS 




LITTLE dear child lay in its 
crib and sobbed, because it was 
afraid of the dark. And its 
father, in the room below, heard 
the sobs, and came up, and said, 
" What ails you, my dearie, 
and why do you cry ? " 
And the child said, " Oh, father, I am 
afraid of the dark. Nurse says I am too 
big to have a taper ; but all the corners 
are full of dreadful blackness, and I think 
there are Things in them with eyes, that 
would look at me if I looked at them ; 
and if they looked at me I should die. 
Oh, father, why is it dark ? why is there 
such a terrible thing as darkness ? why 
cannot it be always day ? " 

The father took the child in his arms 
and carried it downstairs and out into the 
summer night. 

92 



THE STARS 93 

" Look up, dearie ! " he said, in his strong, 
kind voice. " Look up, and see God's 
little lights!" 

The little one looked up, and saw the 
stars, spangling the blue veil of the sky ; 
bright as candles they burned, and yellow 
as gold. 

" Oh, father," cried the child ; " what are 
those lovely things ? " 

" Those are stars," said the father. 
"Those are God's little lights." 

" But why have I never seen them be- 
fore ? " 

" Because you are a very little child, and 
have never been out in the night before." 

" Can I see the stars only at night, 
father?" 

" Only at night, my child ! " 

" Do they only come then, father ? " 

" No ; they are always there, but we 
cannot see them when the sun is shining." 

" But, father, the darkness is not terrible 
here, it is beautiful ! " 

" Yes, dearie ; the darkness is always 
beautiful, if we will only look up at the 
stars, instead of into the corners." 



THE COOKY 




CHILD quarrelled with his 
brother one day about a 
cooky. 

" It is my cooky ! " said 
the child. 

" No, it is mine ! " said his 
brother. 
" You shall not have it ! " said 
the child. " Give it to me this minute ! " 
And he fell upon bis brother and beat 
him. 

Just then came by an Angel who knew 
the child. 

" Who is this that you are beating ? " 
asked the Angel. 

" It is my brother ! " said the cliild. 
" No, but truly," said the Angel ; " who 
is it { 

" It is my brother, I tell you ! " said the 
child. 

" Oh, no ! " said the Angel. " That can- 
not be, and it seems a pity for you to tell 

94 



THE COOKY 95 

an untruth, because that makes spots on 
your soul. If it were your brother, you 
would not beat him." 

" But he has my cooky ! " said the child. 

"Oh!" said the Angel. "Now I see 
my mistake. You mean that the cooky 
is your brother ; and that seems a pity, 
too, for it does not look like a very good 
cooky, and besides, it is all crumbled to 
pieces." 



THE STRONG CHILD 




HERE was once a child 
who was so big and strong 
that he thought he was 
a man. 
" See ! " he said to his 
mother. " I am a man ! 
Give me my father's 
sword, and I will take care of you." 

** That will be beautiful ! " said his 
mother ; and she gave him the sword, and 
sighed and smiled. 

The child held the sword lightly, he was 
so strong, and brandished it about. 

" Look I " he said. " 1 can wield it 
easily. If we meet a lion or a bear on 
the road, I will kill it with one blow, 
thus 1 " 

" That will be glorious ! " said the mother ; 
and she sighed and smiled. 

But when the child put the sword back 
in the sheath, it chanced that he caught 

96 



THE STRONG CHILD 97 

his finger on a pin that was about his 
dress, and tore the flesh. 

" Oh, mother ! " he cried. " This dread- 
ful pin has scratched my finger. Look ! 
here is a great drop of blood ! oh ! how it 
hurts ! " and he wept bitterly. 

" Thank God ! " said the mother. " You 
are still a child." 

And she kissed the finger, and bound 
it up, and wept too, for joy. 



ANYBODY 




^ MAN knelt at the altar and 
prayed. 

" O God," he said, " I am all 
evil, without and within. JNIy 
soul is black with the color 
of my sin, and my shoulders 
are bowed with the weight 
of it. God of all mercies, 
be merciful to me, the 
chief of sinners ! " 

As he went out he met a friend. 
" AYhere have you been ? " asked the 
friend. 

" I have been at the altar," said the 
man, " confessing my sins." 

" Speaking of sins," said the friend, 
" there is a fault that I have often noticed 
in you." 

And he told him of his fault. 
" Liar I " said the man, and smote him 
on the mouth. 



98 




THE GIFTIE 

MAN was complaining of his 

neighbors. 

"I never saw such a wretched 

set of people," he said, *' as are in 

this village. They are mean, self- 
jL ish, greedy of gain, and careless 

of the needs of others. Worst of 
all, they are forever speaking evil of one 
another." 

" Is it really so ? " asked an Angel who 
happened to be walking with him. 

*' It is indeed ! " said the man. *' Why, 
only look at this fellow coming towards 
us I I know his face, though I cannot 
tell you his name. See his little sharp, 
cruel eyes, darting here and there like a 
ferret's, and the lines of covetousness about 
his mouth ! The very droop of his shoul- 
ders is mean and cringing, and he slinks 
along instead of walking." 

99 



100 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" It is very clever of you to see all this," 
said the Angel ; " but there is one thing 
that you do not perceive." 

" What is that ? " asked the man. 

" Why, that it is a looking-glass we are 
approaching ! " said the Angel. 




THE STAFF 

NCE there was a woman 

who had a sword in her 

heart ; but because she 

was a decent body, 

she covered it with 

her shawl, and went 

about her business, and 

no one knew of it. 

Once as she went along the way, she 

saw another woman, tottering slowly along, 

groping with her hands, and moaning as 

she went. 

" Why do you grope thus ? " asked the 
first woman, " and why do you moan as 
you go ? " 

" I am sick and wounded," said the 
second woman ; " moreover, I am blind, 
and I am groping for something that may 
serve as a staff, to stay my steps as far as 
the end of the way." 

101 



102 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

The first woman looked about for a tree, 
but there was none, nor any bush from 
which she could cut a staff. 

Then she drew the sword out from under 
her shawl, and put it in the blind woman's 
hand, and said, " Take this, since it is all 
1 have to give." 

The blind woman took it, and felt it 
all over, and leaned on it. 

" Oh," she cried joyfully, *' here is a 
good staff; with tliis I shall do well." 
And she thanked the other, and blessed 
her. 

And when the first woman looked at 
that which had been her sword, it was 
a staff indeed. 




THE DOOR 

BOY was running through flower- 
starred meadows, chasing butter- 
flies and answering the songs of 
the birds. By and by he came 
to a wafl, and in the wall was 
set a wide and lofty door; 
but the door was locked, 
and guarded by spirits, with 
names written in their foreheads. 
" Shall I knock at the door ? " asked the 
boy. 

" Not yet ! " said one, rising from the 
ground where she had been lying. The 
name on her forehead was Indolence, and 
she had soft eyes, and a slow, soft smile. 

" On the other side is work to do, — 
work all day long, and no time or chance 
to play. See the flowers here, and the 
ripe fruit on the trees, and the soft grass 
where we may lie at length and look up 
at the blue sky ! Do not knock at the 
door yet ! " 

103 



104 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

" Not yet ! " said another, who wore a 
green robe. His face was subtle, and the 
letters on his forehead seemed to shift and 
blur so that the name was hard to read ; 
but when one looked steadfastly, it was 
Selfishness. 

" On the other side are people who will 
ask you to do things for them, — poor and 
sick and suffering people, with doleful tales 
to tell and ugly scars to show ; all trouble- 
some and importunate. Here, on this side 
of the wall, everything is done for you ; 
on the other side, it is you who must do 
things for the rest of the world. Stay 
here as long as you can, in the flowery 
meadow ; do not knock at the door yet ! " 

" Not yet ! " cried two twin spirits in 
gray, with frightened eyes ; the names 
on their foreheads were Timidity and Ig- 
norance. 

" On the other side are two terrible things, 
hobgoblin sluipes of horror and cruelty. 
One is called Life, the other Death. No 
sooner will you cross the threshold of the 
door than they will come ravening at you, 
and clutch you, and tear you with their 
dreadful claws, and finally devour you. 



THE DOOR 105 

Do not knock at the door, we implore 
you! 

" You interest me extremely," said the 
boy. " I must look into this ! " 

He knocked, and Destiny opened the 
door. 




THEOLOGY 

lOME children were quarrel- 
ling one day, and calling 
one another names. 

"You are stupid," said 
one ; " if you were not, you 
would think as I do." 
" If you were not wholly 
blind," said another, '* you would see with 
my eyes." 

** Your ignorance is what troubles me ! " 
said a third. 

" Ignorance is not so bad as ill-will ! ' 
said a fourth. 

Just then came by the Angel-who- 
understands-things. 

" What are you quarrelling about, chil- 
dren ? " asked the Angel. 

" About our God ! " said the children. 
" Oh ! " said the Angel. " The God of 
Strife, I presume?" 

106 



THEOLOGY 107 

"No!" cried one. "He is the God of 
Peace ! " 

" He is the God of Wisdom ! " said 
another. 

" He is the God of Love ! " said a third. 

** Indeed I " said the Angel. " I never 
should have thought it." 



A MATTER OF IMPORTANCE 




T happened one day that the 
Angel-who-attends-to-things 
was hastening along the 
street, with his wings tucked 
in and his robes tucked up, 
for he was in a hurry, when 
a Duke looked out of his 
castle window and called to him. 

" Stop a moment, please ! " said the Duke. 
" T wish to consult you about the succes- 
sion to my dukedom. You know my 
grandfather, the Archduke — " 

" I cannot attend to you this morning ! " 
said the Angel. " I am engaged on busi- 
ness of importance ; your affair must wait 
till another time." And he passed on. 

"Dear me!" said the Duke. "What 
can be more important than the succes- 
sion ? I really must follow him, and see 
what this great matter is." 
So lie followed the Angel. 

108 



A MATTER OF IMPORTANCE 109 

The Angel hurried along, and presently 
he passed by a Bishop's palace, and the 
Bishop put his head out of the window 
and called to him. 

*' Please come in a moment ! " said the 
Bishop. " I wish to consult you about the 
Great Synod which is to be held — " 

The Angel shook his head. 

" I am on business of importance," he 
said. " I cannot attend to trifles this 
morning." And he passed on. 

The Bishop looked after him. "What 
mighty business can this be," he said, 
"that makes the Great Synod seem a 
trifle ? I really think I must go and see." 
And he followed the Angel and the Duke. 

Presently the Angel passed by a King's 
palace, and the King looked out of the 
window and called to him. 

" Please come in here ! " said the King. 
" The enemy's forces have crossed the 
border, and threaten to besiege the capital. 
I wish to consult you at once on the steps 
to be taken." 

" By and by ! " said the Angel. " I am 
on business of importance now, and cannot 
stop for trifles." And he hurried on. 



110 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

The King looked after liim. " It must 
be something of world-wide importance," 
he said, " which can make the invasion of 
my kingdom seem a trifle. I must really 
go and see what it is." And he followed 
the Angel and the Duke and the Bishop. 

The Angel turned from the wide street, 
and passed down a narrow lane, and into 
a dingy court, where poor clothes himg 
drying. In the middle of the court stood 
a little child, with its eyes tight shut and 
its mouth wide open, crying and roaring 
as if its heart would break. 

The Angel ran to the child, and knelt 
down and took it in his arms. 

"Hush! hush!" he cried. "It is all 
right, dear. You took the wrong turning, 
that was all. She is just round the corner. 
Quick, let me wipe the tears away ! Look ! 
there she comes this minute." 

A woman came flying round the corner, 
wild-eyed and panting. The Angel put 
the child into her arms, and tlie two 
melted together, and sobbed and laughed 
themselves away out of sight. 

The Angel drew a long breath, and 
rustled his wings a little, and turned to 



A MATTER OF IMPORTANCE 111 

go back ; and as he turned, he saw the 
Duke and the Bishop and the King, all 
out of breath and crimson, and staring 
with big round eyes. 

" Oh ! are you there ? " said the Angel. 
" Well, now I can attend to your little 
matters." 



THE SCAR 




ROTHER, what is that 
scar above your heart ? " 

" Brother, the mark of 
a sword." 

" Of whose sword ? " 
" Brother, of yours." 
*'Nay!" 
" Even so ! " 

** Brother of my heart, could I wound 
you thus, and still forget ? " 
" Yes, since you bear no scar." 
** Brother of my soul, could I wound you 
thus, and go myself unscarred ? " 

** Verily, yes ; since it is not the hilt 
that wounds." 



112 



THE STRANGER 




GOOD man was worshipping 
his God in sincerity and in 
truth ; and as he worshipped, 
a Stranger came by, and 
stopped to observe him. 

" Why do you worship 
alone, brother ? " asked the 
Stranger. 

" Because there is none in this place to 
worship with me," said the man. 

" How is that ? " asked the Stranger. 
" Do I not hear sounds as of worship from 
yonder open door, as if two or three were 
gathered together ? " 

" Oh, yes ! " said the good man. " Those 
people are no doubt worshipping after 
their manner, but it is not the manner to 
which I am accustomed." 

" But is it the same God whom they 
worship ? " asked the Stranger. 

*' Oh, yes 1 " said the good man. " It is 
the same God, but there is everything in 
the way in which the thing is done." 



113 



114 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

"Is there truly ? " said the Stranger. 
And he passed on, and went in at the open 
door. 

The good man looked after him ; and 
just then came by an Angel of his acquaint- 
ance. 

" Do you know who that was who just 
spoke to me ? " asked the man. 

" Do you not know ? " said the Angel. 

" No ! " said the man. " He is a stranger 
to me." 

" Oh I " said the Angel. " If he is a 
stranger to you, I fear I can do nothing 
for you." And he followed his JNIaster in 
at the door. 



THE WEDDING GUESTS 




F the guests who were 
bidden to the Wed- 
ding Feast, there 
were two who started 
at the same moment ; 
and both were given 
the same equipment 
for the journey, 
namely, a staff in the hand, and a jewel to 
wear in the breast. 

The first one said, " A staff is well enough, 
but why should I walk, when I might ride ? 
I should soil my wedding garment." 

So he got him an easy carriage, and stout 
and swift horses, and servants to drive him, 
and clad himself in a rich garment, and 
started on his journey. As he travelled, 
the road, which at first was smooth and 
flowery, grew ever steeper and rougher ; 
and at each steep pitch, he called for more 
and softer cushions, and for stronger horses ; 

115 



116 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

and he wrapped himself in fold on fold of 
rich stuffs, lest any whifF of dust or drop 
of mud should stain his wedding garment ; 
the folds were so thick across his bosom 
that they hid the jewel he wore, and 
quenched its light. And as he went, many 
by the wayside cried to him to stop and 
help them, for it was a weary way, and full 
of pitfalls, and of sharp flints that bruised 
the feet, and sharp thorns that tore the 
flesh. But he only bade his servants drive 
on the faster. " These be evil ways and 
evil days," he said ; " I fear for the jewel in 
my breast, and for my wedding garment ; 
drive on, lest ill befall us ! " 

The second guest started out staff in 
hand on his journey, and for a while strode 
merrily on ; but by and by he too came to 
the rough steep hills, and to the pitfalls, 
and the sharp flints that bruised the feet, 
and the sharp thorns that tore the flesh. 
Then, because he was slender of mould, he 
many times stumbled and fell, and got up 
again all bleeding and bemired from the 
flints and the pitfalls. His staff bent in 
his hand, and seemed like to break, yet it 
did not break ; and the thorns tore his 



THE WEDDING GUESTS 117 

clothes to tatters, and the wind whistled 
through them. These were evil days for 
the wedding guest. Moreover, the men 
who were travelling that same road called 
to him, some praying for help, and others 
jeering at him, and making mock of his 
ragged clothing and slender staff. Yet 
many times, when one cried to him from 
the depth of a pit, he stopped, and held out 
his staff to the fallen man, and drew him 
out; and then the staff seemed stout 
enough. 

Still other men there were who called to 
him, saying, " Give up the rough road and 
the weary way, and come and revel here 
with us ! " and laid hold on him ; and when 
he would not, they fell upon him and beat 
him, and tried to take his jewel from him. 
But he beat them off with his staff, and 
again it seemed stout enough for this. 

Now the Lord of the Feast waited to 
receive his guests ; and as these two had 
started at the selfsame moment, even so 
they came together to the door of the ban- 
queting hall ; and the first one entered 
proudly, but the other stood without at the 
door. 



118 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

Then said the Lord to the first guest, 
*' Where is your staiF ? " 

" Lord," said the man, *' I had no need 
of a staff, for I came liither in a carriage, 
lest I soil my wedding garment." 

" And have you your jewel ? " asked the 
Lord. 

" Yea, Lord ! " said the man. " I have 
it safe, and so well covered with rich stuffs 
that nothing could come near it, neither 
dust nor soil." 

As he spoke, he drew back the thick 
folds from his breast ; and there lay the 
jewel indeed, but it gave no liglit, and was 
as a thing dead. 

*' And you, son," said the Lord of the 
Feast to the other guest ; " why do you 
stand at the door and lean upon your staff, 
when the feast is ready ? " 

And the second answered, " Lord, my 
garment was poor at the starting, and now 
it is torn and stained with brambles and 
dust, so that I am not fit to come in ; and 
as for the staff, I am weary to ftiintness, 
and I lean upon it because it holds me 
well, though it be slender ; and indeed it is 
stouter than it was, I know not how." 



THE WEDDING GUESTS 119 

" And your jewel ? " asked the Lord. 

" Alas ! " said the man. " I have striven 
so hard and fallen so often by the way that 
I many times forgot the jewel, and know 
not even now whether I have it ; and even 
if I have, it may well be dim with dust, 
and dead of its light, like this man's." 

" Show it me ! " said the Lord of the 
Feast. 

Then the man drew aside the ragged 
cloak that covered him ; and the jewel 
shone out, and lighted the room. 

Then said the Lord of the Feast to him, 
" Come in, and sit with me at my table ! " 

And as the man crossed the threshold, 
the tattered clothes fell from him, and he 
stood robed as it were in a garment of 
light, and the jewel shining in his breast ; 
and he passed in to the feast. 

Now when the other guest saw that, he 
cried out bitterly, and said, "Lord, does 
this man pass in, and I stay without ? " 

And the Lord said, " Nay ! come you in 
also, and serve him and me ! " 



HOME 




NCE, in these later days, 
there came to this 
earth a Child who 
had been here once 
before. The day 
was cold, and late the 
hour, and the Child 
wandered far and wide, as if seeking some- 
thing. As he went, the little foxes peeped 
from their holes, and said, " Where are 
you going, little Master?" and the Child 
answered, *' I am seeking something, but 
I cannot well tell what," and he wandered 
further. 

By and by he came to a great door, from 
which came sounds of music, sweet and 
solemn. He pushed the door open and 
looked in ; and there was a great place 
full of dim, rich light, and tlie music 
flowin<ir throut^h it in waves as of a sea. 

120 



HOME m 

Here and there men and women were 
kneeling on the marble floor, looking up 
at a figure that hung carved upon a 
cross, fixed as in pain and anguish ; and, 
before this figure men in rich garments 
passed to and fro, muttering prayers and 
offering perfumes. 

The Child looked at the figure, which 
hung in unending pain. " That is some- 
thing that I have known," he said, " but 
it is not what I am seeking ; " and he 
wandered further. 

After a time he came to a tall house, 
and here again he heard sounds of music, 
women's voices singing thin and sweet. 

He pushed the door open and looked in ; 
and here were many women, robed and 
veiled in black, kneeling and singing before 
the picture of a woman with seven swords 
in her heart ; and the women sang : 

" For He that is mighty hath done to 
me great things, and holy is His name." 

The Child looked at the picture of the 
woman, and said, " This, too, is some- 
thing that 1 have known, but it is not 
what I am seeking ; " and he wandered 
further. 



122 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

And as lie went, the little birds peeped 
from their nests and said, " A\^here are 
you going, Httle Master ? " 

And the Child answered, " I am seeking 
something, but I cannot yet tell what." 

Now it was growing very late, and the 
Child was cold and weary ; and as he went, 
he heard yet once more the sound of music, 
but this time it was one voice that sang, 
and that a low one ; it came from a humble 
cabin that stood beside the way, and 
from the cabin window came a gleam 
of light that lay bright across the bare 
road. 

The Child pushed open the door and 
looked in. There by a small bright fire sat 
a woman with a child on her knee, and 
another leaning beside her, and a third 
lying in the cradle beyond her ; and the 
woman stirred the fire as she sat, and 
sang to the babe in her lap. And as 
she sang, it chanced that she turned her 
head, and saw the Child standing in the 
doorway. 

*' Little one," said the woman, " come 
in, an(J let me warm the little cold feet 
of you by the fire, and the little cold 



HOME 



123 



hands of you in my bosom ; and drink 
warm milk, and then sleep beside the babe 
in the cradle here." 

" Oh ! Mary Mother ! " said the Child, 
" now I know : I was seeking where to lay 
my head." 

And he entered in. 




LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY'S 

NEW AND POPULAR FICTION 



A PRINCE OF SINNERS 

By E. Phillips Oppenheim, author of " The Traitors," 
etc. Illustrated by Oscar Wilson. i2mo. ^1.50. 

A well-compacted and exceedingly interesting story of English political and 
social life, making no demands upon one's credulity, but satisfying the requirements 
in the way of a thoroughly good novel. The characters are all drawn with real 
fidelity to life. — Harry Thurston Peck, Editor of The Bookman. 

Lord Arranmore is a character that would have thrown no discredit upon a 
Thackeray or a George Eliot, and more than once we are reminded of Goethe's 
Mephistopheles. Mr. Oppenheim has written an ingenious, edifying, and extremely 
interesting story. It is the best he has yet produced. — Chicago Record-Herald. 

Unquestionably one of the very best volumes of fiction of the year. — B. O. 
Flower, Editor of The Arena. 

THE SIEGE OF YOUTH 

By Frances Charles, author of " In the Country God 
Forgot." Illustrated. 12mo. ^1.50. 

In Miss Frances Charles, now that a second novel from her hand permits 
comparison, America has found a writer still in the flush of youth, with marked 
powers of discrimination and characterization and a downright genius for analysis. 
— Dial, Chicago. 

She is an artist all through in mind and manner, and her depicting of artistic 
and literary Bohemia is as graphic a bit of work as is often done in that line. She 
knows her types and the ways of them, and she handles them like a master. — 
Philadelphia Telegraph. 

THE SPOILS OF EMPIRE 

A Romance of the Old World and the New. By 
Francis Newton Thorpe. Illustrated by Frank B. 
Masters. 12mo. $\.S0. 

A notable piece of fiction. . . . Scenes in Spain and Mexico are presented 
before our eyes with wonderful vividness, and it would be difficult to find a more 
graphic piece of descriptive writing than that provided in the picture of the retreat 
of Cortez' booty-laden soldiers from the Aztec capital. — Louisville Times. 



NEIV AND POPULAR FICTION 

THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 

A Book of Fables for Old and Young. By Laura E. 
Richards, author of '* Captain January," " The Joy- 
ous Story of Toto," etc. With illustrations and 
decorations by Arthur E. Becher and Julia Ward. 
Richards. 12mo. ;^1.50. 

This charming book will be a source of delight to those who love the best 
literature. The stories are so simple and graceful that they suggest Tolstoi at his 
best, and the moral attached to each fascinating tale is excellent. Mrs. Richards' 
charm of style pervades this unique collection of stories. The book is hand- 
somely embellished. 

THE AWAKENING OF THE DUCHESS 

By Frances Charles, author of " In the Country 
God Forgot," ''The Siege of Youth," etc. With 
illustrations in color by I. H. Caliga. 12mo. $1.50. 

Frances Charles, the author of "In the Country God Forgot," writes in an 
entirely new vein in her latest book, the best that this talented young author has 
written. It is a pretty and touching story of a lonely little heiress, Roselle, who 
called her mother, a society favorite, " the Duchess " ; and the final awakening of 
a mother's love for her own daughter. 

THE COLONEL^S OPERA CLOAK 

By Christine C. Brush. New Edition. Illustrated 
by E. W. Kemble. 12mo. $1.50. 

This favorite story is now issued in a new and attractive form, with artistic 
renderings of its principal characters and scenes by E. W. Kemble, the celebrated 
artist of negro character. This bright, clever, and entertaining book is a story with 
a very novel idea, that of making the " Colonel's Opera Cloak " the hero. 

A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 

By M. E. WALLER, author of '' The Little Citizen." 
Illustrated. 12mo. $1.50. 

A delightful book, telling the story of a happy summer in the Green Mountains 
of Vermont and a pleasant winter in New York. Two of the characters are Hazel 
Clyde, the daughter of a New York millionaire, and Rose Blossom, a Vermont girl. 
The book is replete with interesting conversation and bright incident. 



NEIV AND POPULAR FICTION 
SARAH TULDON 

By Orme Agnus, author of " Love in Our Village," 
" Jan Oxber/' etc. Illustrated. 12mo. ;^1.50. 

A remarkable study of an English peasant girl of strong character who was 
developed by the circumstances of her life into a fine, noble-hearted, and generous 
woman. — Chicago Record-Herald. 

A crisp and spirited tale, full of good description and clever portrayals of 
rural character, as good in some respects as anything Hardy has written. Sarah 
Tuldon was really a woman worth knowing. — Brooklyn Eagle. 

BARBARA, A WOMAN OF THE WEST 
By John H. Whitson. Illustrated. l2mo. gl.50. 

Mr. Whitson's romance gives a panoramic view of the whole West from Kan- 
sas to California, ranching and mining, with glimpses of grand scenery. — Pittsburg 
Gai^ette. 

A story original in ideas, clever in construction, and Interesting to the last 
word. — N. Y. World. 

THE DOMINANT STRAIN 

By Anna Chapin Ray. Illustrated in color by Harry 
C. Edwards. 12mo. ;^1.50. 

Full of bright bits of philosophy concerning the modern musical artist and 
his relations to the life and society that surround him to-day, with a close study of 
the artistic temperament as affected by the exigencies of modern commerce and the 
attainment of the success that spells money. — Philadelphia Ledger. 

THE WARS OF PEACE 

By A. F. Wilson. Illustrated. l2mo. ;^1.50. 

The American Industrial and commercial life of to-day is the absorbing topic 
dealt with. The stirring events of the destruction of the mill by dynamite, with 
Theodore inside, and his dramatic rescue, are told vividly and thrillingly. The story 
is well balanced, skilfully constructed, and decidedly readable. — Bosfow Herald. 



GAY 



By Evelyn Whitaker, author of " Miss Toosey's 
Mission," etc. Illustrated. l2mo. ^1.25. 



hlEl4^ AND POPULAR FICTION 

A ROSE OF NORMANDY 

By William R. A. Wilson. Illustrated by Ch. 
Grunwald. 12mo. $1.50. 

No more entertaining character has stalked through the pages of any recent 
novel than that of Henri de Tonti, gentleman, soldier, courtier, gallant — the 
intrepid hero of countless adventures, but withal the true and constant man and 
lover. — Baltimore American. 

LOVE THRIVES IN WAR 

A Romance of the Frontier in 1812. By Mary 
Catherine Crowley, author of " A Daughter of 
New France," etc. Illustrated. l2mo. $1.50. 

To a fine historical background, rich with incident and romance, Miss 
Crowley has added her own originality, her wonderful descriptive powers, in short 
her gift of story-telling, and has obtained a brilliant and entertaining result. The 
whole story is crowded with exciting events, tender love scenes, and brilliant 
description. — Louisville Courier -Journal. 

A DETACHED PIRATE 

By Helen Milecete. With illustrations in color by 
I. H. Caliga. 12mo. $\.S0. 

There is the sparkle of champagne In Helen Milecete's latest book. Gay 
Vandeleur is the pirate, detached by a divorce court, and her first name is no 
misnomer — not a bit of it. — Chicago Evening Post. 

One of the clever books of the season. — Philadelphia North American. 

THE SHADOW OF THE CZAR 

By John R. Carling. Illustrated. 12mo. ;^1.50. 

A romance of the sturdy, wholesome sort, in which the action Is never allowed 
to drag. — St. Louis Globe- Democrat. 

Excels in interest Anthony Hope's best efforts. — Boston Herald. 



LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers 

254 WASHINGTON STREET • BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent; Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Sept. 2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATIOM 

111 Thomson Park Dnve 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



SEP 7^ ^9^3 



iOPY DEL. TO CAT. DIV, 
SEP. l^ ^90:s 



SEP 29 1903 



-:-^»^; 

:-^^>i 






■V -^ -WJ-i.^ .I'l.VrJ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



015 821 731 4 



■^f^--.^ 



j^¥.:i' 















^:>t| 



1^^ 






